THE ATTORNEY GENERAL vs CASSIUS MINING LIMITED

Introduction

The Parties to this Originating Motion are the Attorney-General of the Republic of Ghana (hereinafter referred to as the Applicant) and Cassius Mining Limited, a Ghanaian registered Company (hereinafter referred to as the Respondent).

By the present Originating Motion which is premised on Section 39 of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act (Act 798), the Applicant seeks an Order of Interim Injunction restraining the Respondent from:

“instituting, or pursuing any arbitration outside the jurisdiction of Ghana under the Prospecting Licence Agreement dated the 28th of December, 2016 entered into between the Government of Ghana and the Respondent, or taking any step whatsoever in international arbitration proceedings against the Government of Ghana until the arbitration instituted by the Respondent against the Applicant at the Ghana Arbitration Centre has been heard and determined

Factual Background

The grounds for the Application are that on or about the 12th of October, 2016, the Respondent, applied for a Prospecting Licence from the Government of Ghana (GoG).

On the 28th of December, 2016, the GoG acting by the then Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, granted a Prospecting Licence to the Respondent for a term of 2 years expiring in December 2018.

By Clause 21 of the Prospecting Licence Agreement (PLA) which is attached to the Applicant’s affidavit in support as Exhibit AG I, the parties agreed that any dispute that arose regarding the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of the parties to the said Agreement would be referred to Arbitration in accordance with Act 798.

Applicant says that following what the Respondent alleged to be unlawful and arbitrary actions by the GoG, the Respondent by a letter dated the 14th of June, 2018 notified the Applicant of its intention to refer the dispute between the parties to the Ghana Arbitration Centre (GAC) in accordance with the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703) and Clause 21 of the PLA.

True to its word, the Respondent, on the 26th of June, 2018, referred the dispute to the GAC and on the 5th of December, 2018 proceeded to file a Statement of Claim seeking a number or reliefs.

In response, the Applicant, on the 9th of January, 2019 filed an Answer to the Respondent’s Statement of Claim at the GAC following which a three member arbitral panel was constituted.

Applicant states that whilst the matter was pending before the GAC, the Respondent applied for a 3 month stay of proceedings